Pi’ikea Kitamura scored the winning run on a throwing error as Hawaii rallied to defeat Louisiana Tech 4-3 in 12 innings in the opener of a three-game series at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La., on Thursday.

The Rainbows trailed 3-1 in the ninth but scored twice on a sacrifice fly by Kitamura and an RBI single by Trevor Podratz to force extra innings.

Kyle Dowdy (2-2) pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win and Brent Harrison worked a perfect 12th inning to earn his seventh save.

Hawaii (25-16, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference) won for the 11th time in its last 15 games and is in sole possession of second place in the WAC. The Rainbows are 3-2 in extra-inning games this season.

The Bulldogs dropped to 18-23 overall and 1-9 in the WAC.

Both teams had just seven hits in the game.

Left-hander Jarrett Arakawa (5-3, 1.69 ERA) will start the second game of the series for the Rainbows on Friday at 1 p.m. Hawaii time.